A New Mark
by PrincessDudette
Summary: Cobb, now free from charges, has a new job that promises a decent payment. Camille Grace Abbott is a young businesswoman who looks like an easy target, but what the team doesn't know is that she has a new offer for Cobb and his team.
1. Chapter 1

The rain picked up again, making Cobb dash towards the door. The valet took his keys and proceeded to park the car around the corner. A beautifully carved glass door was opened for him, an elder man standing behind it.

"Good evening, Mr. Cobb," He said as he bowed slightly.

Cobb smiled sideways at the man. "Evening," He replied as he looked back at the elegant place filled with people.

The room was very spacious, with a high ceiling, decorated with exquisite chandeliers. Cobb stared at the beautiful details on the walls. The expensive paintings on the wall gave the place a touch of sophistication, making it a classic ball room.

"Cobb!" Eames said as he turned from the bunch of people he had been talking to. Cobb looked down and snapped out of his delight. His co-worker gave him a squeeze on his right shoulder and motioned for him to walk with him.

"Looks nice," He said as he searched for the person he had been intending to meet.

"More than nice, this woman is the queen of the world right now, she showers in champagne," Eames said in a low voice, making Cobb nod and smile.

They were joined by the rest of the group. Ariadne was wearing a beautiful beige tunic, making her look like a goddess. Arthur was standing next to her, trying to keep up with the conversation they were having.

"Seen the girl yet? She's beautiful. Breathtaking," Eames asked.

"We're not here to know if Ms. Abbott is hot or not," Cobb said as he sipped on the glass of the costly champagne that they had offered him.

Arthur had grown tired of having to put up with Ariadne's attitude for today. They had been together for a couple of months, but the rest of the team didn't approve of their relationship. Cobb thought that it was not safe that they were a couple, and insisted that when the end of their relationship came they would have to put up with each other at work. Eames secretly encouraged them to be together because he thought they were a good match.

x.x.x.x.x

"I'll go get a drink," Arthur mumbled as he left Ariadne's side. She sighed, frustrated, and started conversation with Cobb about their newest project.

Arthur moved between small groups of people who were chatting about their newest acquisitions like yachts, penthouses, and helicopters. He saw the bar a few meters away and squeezed himself once more to fit between the backsides of two overweight women.

Sitting down on one of the high chairs that were placed against the bar, Arthur decided on what he would drink thoughtfully.

While he discussed on what he wanted to drink, a woman sat next to him quietly.

"I'll have a chocolate Martini, Jeff," She said as she gave the bartender a half-smile.

"Right away," Jeff answered and turned around to prepare her drink.

Arthur took a look at the woman and his breath caught in his throat. This was their new target: Camille Grace Abbott. Barely twenty-three years old, with a signature vintage look on her. The pictures didn't do her enough justice.

Jeff the bartender served Camille's drink with ease and dropped a stick with a cherry on it. "There ya go," He said, smiling at the young woman.

"Thanks," She said as she grinned at Jeff. She then took a sip of her drink and sighed in contentment.

Arthur kept staring at her but remembered to keep a low profile just in time. Jeff looked at him intently as he wiped his work place with a white cloth.

"Manhattan," He said, feeling like drinking something strong. Jeff nodded curtly and proceeded to grab what he needed.

Camille turned to look over at Arthur's sitting figure and her eyes met his for an instant. She looked back at her drink and a hint of a smile showed up.

"Manhattan," Jeff said as he served Arthur's drink quickly.

"Thank you," He said as he took the Martini glass to his mouth and sipped nervously. There was this little voice that urged him to speak to the beautiful woman beside him, but he feared that this would mess up the project somehow. Then, he remembered Ariadne.

"That's a nice choice, Manhattan," Camille said in a hushed tone, giving Arthur a flash of her white pearly teeth.

"Oh, it's my favorite," He blurted out, taken aback by the sudden conversation.

"Not my number one, but it's pretty close," She said, taking another sip of her drink. "Camille," She extended her hand.

Arthur took the hand, so smooth and silky, and shook it. "Arthur," He said as he let go of her hand.

"Well, Arthur, enjoy Manhattan," She smiled as she got up. "Both of them," She winked.

Arthur chuckled, "Thank you," he replied and returned to his drink.

x.x.x.x.x

"Would you like some more champagne?" A waitress asked.

Cobb politely answered, "No, thank you very much," for all of them.

Ariadne looked around once more to see if Arthur was nearby. No such luck.

"I think it's time for me to start this job," Cobb said as he heard a peculiar sound. He turned around and found Camille's back facing him a few meters away. She laughed again and patted a man in a grey suit's back.

"Be careful," Ariadne said as she observed the woman discretely. "Remember, she's full of surprises,"

"We'll be outside," Eames said as he took another high glass of champagne from a tray.

Without answering, Cobb turned to follow Camille, who was walking towards a staircase. Every two or three stairs there would be some groups of two or three people having conversations.

"Oh Miss Abbott, you look lovely," An aged man turned to greet Camille. She smiled at him as he took her hand and kissed it.

"Thank you, Earnest," She said as she greeted the rest of the party quickly and went back to climb the staircase.

Cobb kept his distance of five stairs so he wouldn't look suspicious. When he reached the same group of people, they nodded gently as he passed by. He gave a small smile and turned again, keeping his eyes on Camille.

The young woman reached a set of glass doors, carved identically as the ones Cobb had been greeted by at the entrance.

She pushed one of the doors open and the cold night air welcomed her outside. Cobb waited a few minutes before deciding to join her in the terrace.

Camille was holding on to the reeling of the building, the sight of the city lights below her. This was her town. She reached into her small leather clutch and took out a cigarette case and her lighter.

There were a couple of people admiring the view as well, chatting enthusiastically and minding their own businesses.

Cobb went through the glass door, taking slow steps until she approached Camille, who was taking a drag of her cigarette.

"What a beautiful sight," Cobb said as he stood a meter apart from the girl. She looked up to him and smiled.

"Indeed," She said, moving her body so she was facing him. Cobb looked at her and took out a cigarette from his pocket as well.

He pretended to look in his other pocket for his lighter and Camille took a step further, opening her Zippo and giving the flint a spin. Cobb lit up his cigarette and took the first drag.

"Thank you," He said as he extended his hand. "Dom Cobb,"

"Pleasure," She responded. "Camille-"

"Camille Abbott," He said in a smooth voice. They shook hands firmly and Camille gave a frown.

"Yes," She said, obviously surprised that this man knew her name. She had never seen him before.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Miss Abbott," He said as he took one more drag of her cigarette.

Camille smiled and mimicked Cobb's action. She blew the smoke out of her mouth and looked up at Cobb. "You too, Mr. Cobb," She squinted her eyes at him. "Mind telling me where have you heard from me?"

Cobb took a step further and got closer to her. "I've heard about you, Miss Abbott. You're a young entrepreneur… just like me back in the day," He took another drag.

"Oh," She replied, feeling relieved. "That's interesting," She took the last drag of her cigarette and threw the stub in the air.

"Would you like to dance with me? I happen to have a very interesting project in mind that you might like to put your hands on,"

"It would be my pleasure, Mr. Cobb," Camille said as they re-entered the building.

"Please, just call me Cobb," He said as they went downstairs. The center of the room had a band playing, and couples were dancing around. Cobb noticed Arthur and Ariadne on the floor, wrapped around each other in a slow dance.

Cobb took Camille's hand and they started moving to the music. After a few songs, Camille had learned that Cobb was a widow, and that he was a powerful businessman in Europe. He had been successful in his architecture career, and he had traveled all around the world.

"Mind if we take a small break, Cobb? I would like something to drink," Camille said as she walked out of the dancing area.

Everything was going according to plan.

"Oh, let me get it for you." He said as he smiled down at the girl. "What would you like?" He asked. Camille smiled.

"Chocolate Martini,"

"I'll be right back at you, Camille," He said as he disappeared between the crowd.

Cobb ordered the drinks on the other bar. The bartender knew what he had to slip on the drink.

A few moments later, Cobb came back to Camille, who was talking to another woman.

"We'll talk next week, Helen," She said as she turned to face Cobb.

"Here you go," Cobb said as he handed Camille her drink.

The sedatives would work in at least one hour, and Cobb needed to give notice to the rest of the team that they were ready to start.

Cobb caught Eames looking at them and he straightened his tie, the sign that they needed to prepare the room upstairs for them. Eames nodded once and disappeared in the crowd, ready to get Arthur and Ariadne to work.

"So tell me, Camille, what are your plans for those shares?" He asked as he started to walk towards the staircase.

"That's something I prefer keeping a secret," She said as she sipped on her drink. They went upstairs again and Cobb led her to the library, where the rest of the team was waiting.

Arthur pretended to look through the bookshelves for something interesting and took a random book as he heard the faint voices of Cobb and Camille. Ariadne and Eames were sitting together on a couch, pretending to chat about business. They had around five minutes left until the sedative would make effect.

"So, Cobb, tell me about your children. What age are they?" She asked when she saw Arthur flipping the pages of a book with a red cover.

"Phillipa just turned seven, she's a beautiful girl. My boy James is four. They're really close," Cobb said as he eyed Arthur.

Arthur smiled at Camille and approached them.

"My, my! Mr. Manhattan," Camille said. Arthur closed the book he was holding and before he could say something, she was on the floor unconscious.

Ariadne, who was closest to the door, closed it swiftly and locked it, while Arthur made his way to a hidden, silver case.

"You were right, she's beautiful," Cobb said as Arthur strapped a wire to her wrist.

* * *

**Hello! This is PrincessDudette. I just saw Inception yesterday and this idea invaded my mind as soon as I woke up today. Camille is not going to be an easy character. Please, let me know your thoughts on the first chapter. Thank you.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello! Here's the second chapter. I got five reviews, which is great! Thanks to bittersweetties, who was the first one to review. She is also afraid that Camille might turn out into a Mary Sue. Don't worry... you might start to like her in the next chapters. To the rest of you who reviewed/sent me messages (it seems that some of you have trouble sending reviews, but thanks for sending me a PM, it really makes me feel special), thank you very much for showing interest in the story. **

**Inception is a masterpiece, made by Christopher Nolan, not me.**

* * *

Darkness.

That's all they saw when they woke up inside the dream. Ariadne looked up at the night sky. The moon shone over the beach, and the waves crashed softly against their feet. Arthur took Ariadne's hand as they started walking towards a beautiful house by the shore, where Cobb would be waiting for them.

"I'm sorry for leaving you like that back there," Arthur said, finally apologizing.

Ariadne looked up and nodded, smiling briefly. "I know you are," She sighed. "But I'm sorry, too,"

Arthur gripped his hand tighter and let go before they entered the house. Cobb's voice could be heard through the hallways upstairs. He sounded irritated, probably holding a conversation with Eames. They climbed the stairs hand in hand, and found Cobb sitting down on a couch enjoying a drink.

"Where is she?" Ariadne asked as she looked around the luxurious furniture. Arthur sat down and frowned. This wasn't supposed to be happening like this. They were apparently going to appear in Camille's childhood home, and her parents would be alive.

A female figure appeared from another room. It was Camille, and she was wearing a black nightgown. She smiled at the four of them – Eames had just joined the party.

"I'm glad you're all here… you see, I'm not what it looks like," Camille started. Ariadne walked over to her but Camille produced a gun from thin air. Arthur stood up defensively.

"What…" Eames said as they all looked at her in disbelief.

"Let's not wake up yet, Ariadne," Camille said as she aimed the gun at her with ease.

"Miss Abbott here," Cobb started, "Has experienced the dream world before. Now we know where her father's fortune came from,"

"My father was an extractor, just like you… but not back in the day, Mr. Cobb." Camille put the gun down as she looked over the window.

Ariadne sighed as she looked back at Arthur.

"As you can see now, my mind has been trained to avoid catastrophes like these," The girl opened her curtain, and the sound of a helicopter was heard in the distance. "I am able to protect myself from Inception, as well as some other minor things."

"Shit," Eames said as he looked over at Cobb.

"Cobb, you didn't know about this?" Ariadne whispered, but Camille heard.

"Of course he didn't!" She exclaimed. Ariadne looked up and found the young woman smiling in a different and slightly intimidating way.

"Arthur could've done his work in a better way, but I see that he missed this little detail… I guess the Fischer job didn't teach him," He answered.

"Fischer? Robert Fischer Junior?" They looked up again in disbelief. Camille placed her free hand on her hip. "So that's why he has brought down his father's company… " She smiled once again. "You're good, Cobb, you're good. But not good enough to crack me,"

She raised the gun and shot herself.

x.x.x.x.x

It was too late for them to escape from her hands. Arthur was the first one to wake up, and he only caught Camille's back going through the door. When the rest of the team woke up, they were expecting security to come get them, but the party downstairs seemed uninterrupted abruptly. Arthur looked up and met Cobb's gaze. He was clearly angry at him. This was not the first time that Arthur had missed an important piece of information. The exact same thing had happened today. They hadn't known that Camille Grace Abbott's mind was trained to protect her deepest secrets. This job looked like an easy one, but little did they know that they were about to enter a bigger job.

They got up and quickly picked up their stuff so they could flee. Ariadne looked disappointed at her boyfriend. He had missed it again.

"Maybe she'll let us go and hope we never come back, darling," Eames squeezed Arthur's shoulder and they proceeded to walk to the door of the library and get the hell out of there as soon as they could.

Cobb was about to go through the door when a phone rang somewhere. They all froze and looked back at a cell phone that was sitting on a small table. Cobb looked back at them and re-entered the library quickly, grabbing the phone and answering it.

"Mr. Cobb…" Camille's voice said. Cobb's eyes widened as she spoke. He was about to hang up, but she hooked him up with a catchy phrase.

"I know who you are, Cobb. You're not a powerful businessman in Eastern Europe. You're a thief… it surprises me that after Saito bribed the authorities to save your ass you're still in for jobs like these," She continued. "But I happen to require your services. And I happen to know people who could bring you and your little team down if you don't do what I want you to do. Now, I would like to make an offer that will blow your mind."

Cobb looked up at his team. Arthur, Ariadne, and Eames were looking at him intently while he held up the phone to his ear. He knew that this woman would keep her word on bringing them down if he didn't give in.

"How much?" He asked.

"Enough to give your kids the life of kings and queens. Enough to retire yourself from work right after my payment. Enough for you to leave the days of being an extractor behind and become a full-time father," She said smoothly.

Cobb breathed in. "What is it exactly?"

Camille's smile could be heard from the other side of the line. "To perform Inception… on my sister."

Cobb looked up at the team again.

"You're full of surprises, Miss Abbott,"

"A car will pick you all up tomorrow at six o'clock. Don't worry; I know where your warehouse is located. You cannot know the destination, but all I can say is we will talk business. You're a good man, Cobb. Now, be ready tomorrow," She said.

"Your own sister," Cobb replied, more to himself than to her.

"Oh, Cobb, I've been planning this for years," She finished, and the line went dead.

Cobb put the phone in the inside pocket of his coat and joined Arthur, Ariadne, and James.

"Arthur, you better not mess up this time," He said as he walked through them, leaving them behind.

The three of them gave each other a look that meant millions of things at the same time and followed Cobb downstairs. Eames turned around one last time and caught a glimpse of Camille, who was looking at them with a smile. He was not sure of what type of smile it was – one of mischief or one of evil.

* * *

**Okay... tell me what you think of it. Thank you for reading, and please don't hesitate to send any constructive criticism. It is really appreciated.**


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